DofE - Silver Practice Expedition
by perpetualpathology
Summary: Guy takes the team to Scotland to practice for their silver expedition!
1. Chapter 1

The Duke of Edinburgh Silver expedition was due to take place in Scotland and the group of ten would have to get two trains – one from Holby to London Euston which would take an hour and a half and one from London Euston to Inverness which would run overnight and take around 10 hours. Given that most people were working until 5pm on the Friday that they were due to leave and the fact that their overnight train didn't leave until 11:50pm, Guy had given them all the liberty to travel to London themselves and meet on the platform at approximately half past eleven. However, the junior doctors didn't have a couple of hundred pounds to spend on train tickets so Zosia, Arthur and Dom were travelling up to Scotland on a coach which was far cheaper, but far less comfortable.

"Well this looks… cosy." Dom said sarcastically as he walked along the centre of the coach that would be driving them overnight. They'd booked a sleeper coach and so on the left and right were bunk beds, all with thin blue curtains to pull across for privacy and there were three bunk beds from the bottom to the top.

"Well it's better than sitting in cramped seats." Zosia shrugged as she dumped her hiking bag on the end of one of the beds at the back of the coach and Dom then put his bag on the one above her. "See you in god knows how many hours." She sighed before she disappeared into the bed and pulled the curtains across.

"Well, looks like you're on the bottom Digby. I'm sure it's not your first time there." Dom quipped as he climbed the small ladder to the top bunk.

"Need I remind you we're in public?" Arthur protested.

* * *

"Ah, good evening everyone." Guy smiled as he approached Jac, Jonny, Mo, Adele, Sacha, and Colette on the platform at London Euston station. "Now while we're all together I'd better explain what's going to happen. When we arrive in Scotland, we'll meet the junior doctors at the station, then walk to the Loch Ness National Park. The circumference will be 49km in total split over three days. Tomorrow, we'll cover 18km which will be about 8 hours of walking and since we're all covering the same route we won't be splitting into teams this time. Does anyone have any questions?"

"Have you heard anything from Jesse?" Adele asked as she wondered what had happened to him. The only thing she knew was from hospital gossip and that was that there would soon be interviews for a new anaesthetist on Darwin.

"Yes, Dr Lawe has resigned and he won't be returning to Holby City Hospital. He's decided to move on." Guy replied with gritted teeth. "Therefore, he won't be taking part in the remaining Duke of Edinburgh expeditions." He added. "Now, shall we start getting on the train?"

* * *

"I honestly cannot wait to be in Scotland again." Jonny smiled as he and Jac entered their cabin on the train which had bunk beds, a sink and a counter. "I'm gonna show you all the delights of Scottish cuisine and I've _got_ to take you to a pub one night, I'll teach you how to play pool."

"Who said I don't already know how to play pool?" She frowned.

"Do you?"

"That's beside the point." She quipped.

"You don't then." He concluded. "So you _will_ come to a pub one night?"

"We'll see." She replied simply.

"Oh come on. Scotsmen, beer and a pool table, what's not to like?" He protested. "I take it I'm on the top bunk." He concluded as she had just sat down on the lower bed.

"Well I'm not sleeping in a bed that small with someone with RLS."

"I do not have restless legs syndrome." He moaned. "Anyway, you're one to talk. I'm not the one who hogs nearly all of the covers and leaves their partner with frostbite."

* * *

"I still don't understand why she wouldn't take my money to come on the train rather than going on some cramped coach for 9 hours." Guy sighed as he and Colette settled into their shared cabin on the train.

"Does she know that you know about her and Jesse?"

"Well I haven't specifically had a conversation about her sleeping with a man 20 years older than her but I think she suspected something after he left. She might think that he gave me a reason as to why he left after the tension on the bronze expedition."

"Well maybe that's why. If she suspects you know, she won't want any more contact with you than she has to."

"But I'm not mad at her. Jesse took advantage of her."

"Zosia knew what she was doing Guy."

"No, she wanted companionship and Jesse swooped in on her when she was vulnerable. I know Zosia might've been in the wrong but he did far worse; he's known her since she was a baby."

"What happened to that speech you gave me the other day about putting it behind you and forgetting about it now that Jesse's gone?" Colette complained.

"You're right. Let's just focus on the 49km we're going to be walking since I know you're so looking forward to it."

"Why did you have to pick something _so_ far?" She moaned.

* * *

"Oh dammit." Adele exclaimed as she shorted through her bag that was laid on the bottom bunk of the cabin she was sharing with her sister.

"What?"

"My phone's ran out of charge and I forgot my charger." She admitted. "You've got that portable battery charger haven't you?"

"Yeah but it's only got one or two charges in it and I'll need it for my phone." Mo stated. "There's a plug at the side of the bed, go and ask the others; I'm sure someone brought an iPhone charger."

* * *

"I wonder if the rest of the nursing staff on Darwin have thrown a party yet." Jonny aired aloud.

"Why would they throw a party?"

"Because you're gone." He quipped and he then frowned as there was a knock on the door. "Adele, what can we do for you?" He asked after opening it.

"Have either of you two got a charger for an iPhone?"

"No." Jac replied immediately.

"Yes you have, I saw you pack it last night." Jonny laughed.

"Please? I'll give it back in the morning." Adele pleaded.

"You can borrow it." Jonny stated as he opened the top of Jac's bag, reached down into them and then pulled out a white charger.

"Thank you." Adele smiled and Jonny then closed the door and slowly turned around to receive an icy look from his partner.

"What?!"

"How is she ever going to learn if you answer her every beck and call?"

"Teaching Adele? What are you? Her mother?" Jonny laughed.

* * *

After popping to the bathroom in the early hours of the morning, Jonny returned to his cabin where he found his partner fast asleep on the bottom bunk, laid under the duvet and facing away from him, towards the wall. He knew he'd be in big trouble if he woke her up – it would be like waking a lion – but he knew he'd sleep easier on the moving vehicle if he was with her so he slipped onto the bottom bunk, under the duvet behind her and wrapped his arms around her. Unfortunately, the movement caused her to stir.

"Are we there?" She mumbled.

"No, not yet. We've still got a long way to go. Just close your eyes and get some sleep." He whispered as he prayed she wouldn't fully wake up; she was still rather sleepy.

"Nice try. Go back to your bed." She ordered sleepily without even opening her eyes.

"I won't fidget, I promise." He chuckled.

"I mean it Maconie." She said more firmly. That was it, Jonny concluded, she was awake.

"Alright, I'm going you grumpy cow." He huffed as he shuffled out of her bed.

"Remind me again who paid for your return train ticket and who saved you from having to go up to Scotland on a dingy coach?"

"Goodnight Ms Naylor." Jonny whispered before he kissed her on the cheek and then climbed up onto his bunk. "I'll see you in Scotland."

"Ugh, don't remind me." She scowled before she buried herself under the duvet and attempted to get to sleep.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading and I hope you're exams are going/ have gone well if you're sitting exams this summer :) Please leave me a review as they encourage me to keep on writing!**


	2. Chapter 2

"Did you hear her getting up and wandering around in the night?" Arthur asked quietly as he and Dom stood in the queue of a small café at the train station that the others would soon arrive at whilst Zosia was sat down at a table with their three hiking bags. Their coach journey hadn't been too bad for the pair but it had been a completely different story for Zosia.

"Yeah, poor thing." Dom said softly.

"What? Does she get travel sick?" Arthur asked confusedly as his flatmate clearly knew something that he didn't.

"No, she's on the blob and she just couldn't sleep."

"On the _what_?" Arthur frowned.

"Honestly, I know we always joke about it but I'm beginning to think that you actually did grow up in a library."

"I can guess what it means Dom, I just don't see what 'blob' actually has to do with… y'know."

"Honestly Digby. You're a doctor and you can't even say the word…" He trailed off as Zosia approached them and grabbed some serviettes, stirrers and sugars from the counter.

"Arthur can't say the word what?" Zosia queried.

"Er… supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." Dom smiled innocently.

"And what's that got to do with being a doctor? You said he's a doctor and he can't say the word." Zosia frowned.

"Well there's all the medical jargon he can recite and yet he can't pronounce that one word properly." Dom improvised.

"Right… I'll be back at the table." Zosia replied suspiciously before she turned around and walked away.

"So if I'm stupid for not being able to say the word yet you can't even talk to Zosia herself about it." Arthur protested quietly.

"Yes because she won't like the fact that we know what she's going through at this moment in time."

"Next please." The barrister said in a strong Scottish accent.

"One cappuccino, one Americano and a hot chocolate. Oh and three almond croissants please."

* * *

Thanks to an alarm that she set, Jac woke up at 7am – almost an hour before their train would arrive at the last stop on the line where they'd get off and be within a short walking distance of Loch Ness. However, after last night's events she decided to get her own back so she ripped the duvet off of her partner who had been fast asleep on the top bunk.

"What the hell did you do that for?" He shrieked.

"To make sure you were awake." Jac smiled innocently.

"But _why_ did you have to wake me up?" He moaned.

" _You_ woke _me_ up last night because of your peanut-sized bladder and your insistence in sleeping in the same bed as me, even if it's only two and a half foot wide. I'm getting my own back." Jac stated.

"What can I say, I missed you." He grinned as he slowly climbed down to the carpeted floor. "Did you sleep alright?"

"Minus your interruption about three hours ago, it wasn't too bad." She quipped and she squinted her eyes as Jonny pulled open the curtains to reveal fields and fields of greenery rolling by.

"We're in Scotland!" Jonny declared.

"Mm, I thought I could smell haggis." Jac quipped.

"Here we go. Let 3 days of casual racism against the Celts begin."

* * *

Guy was leading the other 6 medical professionals as they strolled out of the train station to find Zosia, Dom and Arthur waiting on the benches outside.

"Ah, good morning." Guy smiled. "How was the coach?"

"Fine." Zosia replied simply as she avoided eye contact with her father. Guy made a mental note that later on, he was going to have a chat with his daughter once and for all about what he knew about her and Jesse and about how he just wanted them two to move on and be comfortable around each other again.

"Right as I said before, we're all covering the same route so we're not splitting up into teams. We should cover about 18km today but I'm warning you that the first campsite won't exactly be very modern…"

"What do you mean?" Colette asked sternly.

"I mean we're staying in a clearing at the edge of a forest by Loch Ness and it will just be a clearing, as far as I know there aren't any bathrooms on site but there might be some public toilets nearby."

"You've booked us to stay somewhere that doesn't have toilets?" Jac frowned.

"Yes well, it's all part of the challenge. Come on, let's get going. We've got a lot of ground to cover today."

"Perhaps if we're slow and we don't make it to the campsite on time we'll have to stay in a B&B overnight." Sacha joked half-heartedly.

"Mm, and maybe Jac will become best friends with Adele." Mo quipped.

* * *

"Right, I think you and I need a chat." Guy began after he'd jogged slightly to catch up with his daughter who he'd caught walking alone. The group were spread out over several meters of the dirt path and he'd decided to seize the opportunity when Dom had left her to go and question Sacha about his latest love affairs with Essie.

"I don't want to–"

"Look, I just want to dispel any confusion by telling you that Jesse _did_ inform me of what happened between you two before he left but that I'm not mad at you. You were taken advantage of and I'm not going to let that man near you again." He explained and Zosia thought things through in her mind – though she didn't feel that she'd been taken advantage of, she was relieved that her father wasn't mad at her, and maybe being the victim wasn't as bad as she'd originally thought.

"I just want to move on from it and you bringing it up every 5 minutes at work doesn't help."

"Zosia, I only kept on bringing it up because I wanted to make sure that you were okay and you weren't giving me any answers. You'd just ignore me."

"That's because I don't want to talk about what happened."

"Alright, fine." Guy sighed. "Are you alright? You've looked a little pale all morning."

"I'm fine, I just haven't got any make-up on."

* * *

"You take a seat, I'll go and grab us something." Jonny smiled as he placed his heavy hiking bag on the ground next to a picnic bench. They had stopped for a short break at a café overlooking Loch Ness with an outdoor picnic area covered by surrounding trees.

"Get me a coffee." Jac barked before she plonked herself down on the bench. She wouldn't admit it, but though she ate healthily and regularly exercised the trekking was already beginning to fatigue her. She could feel blisters forming in her hiking boots and her lower legs were becoming weaker with every additional mile that they covered.

"Well, this is fun isn't it?" Sacha panted as he sat down next to his best friend.

"Don't tell me you're actually enjoying this."

"I wouldn't say enjoying necessarily but it's not too bad. And we get Monday and Tuesday off of work."

"Don't remind me." Jac muttered.

"Would you like some of my mother's homemade Babka bread?" He offered as he began to open his bag which was resting between his legs but, as expected, Jac grimaced at the thought of eating such a thing. "You need to make sure you're eating enough on this trip." Sacha warned.

"Which is why I got us these to go with your coffee." Jonny announced as he walked out with a tray with two steaming cups and two cupcakes iced with the blue and white Scottish flag on them.

"Dundee cakes? I think I'd prefer the Jewish cake." She quipped.

"You're _so_ bloody racist!" Jonny protested.

"No I'm not. Racism is the belief that one particular race is superior to another. I'm of the opinion that **I** , personally, am superior to everyone else and I'm not a race." She explained.

"Just drink your coffee while it's still hot." Jonny ordered as he knew he'd get nowhere with the stubborn-minded, picky consultant.


	3. Chapter 3

"Is this it?" Zosia asked with a frown as Guy dumped his bag on the grass in a small, fenced field that wasn't far from the lake but was slightly off of the beaten track. There was nothing in the field except a dry, dirt circle that had clearly been used as a fire pit before, and one corner of the area was a small forest-like area dotted with trees and bushes.

"We're spending the night here, yes." Guy confirmed. "We passed those public toilets about twenty minutes ago and I'm sure without all the equipment and bags you could walk there in ten or fifteen minutes." He added but her frown remained. "Zosia it's one night! If I can manage here, _you_ can; you're 20 years younger than me for a start." Guy protested at his frowning daughter.

"Oh _you_ can manage here, can you? You don't think about anyone but yourself." She snarled before she walked halfway across the field and dumped her bag on the ground.

"Just give her a while to cool off. She'll calm down eventually." Colette ordered gently as she grabbed the CEO's arm to stop him from running after her.

"I don't know what's wrong with her." He admitted helplessly. "I think I might have upset her by bringing up the whole 'Jesse' thing earlier."

"No, it wasn't that." Dom informed his boss. "It's her time of month so I'd imagine that _that's_ why she's not happy about the 20 minute walk to the toilets." He said candidly before he walked after his flatmate with Arthur in tow so that they could set their tent up. "Oestrogen is a bitch isn't it?" Dom joked as he dumped his bag on the ground. He could tell by the look on her face that she regretted snapping at her father for no apparent reason – everyone was in the same boat with a long trek to the toilet after walking all day but she was the only one complaining out loud.

"What did my Dad say?" Zosia asked reluctantly.

"He thinks he upset you by bringing up Jesse and Colette told him to give you some space to cool down." Dom explained. "Come on, let's get this tent set up."

* * *

"We've been walking all day and he thinks it's acceptable to make us stay somewhere with no toilets or showers?" Jac began as she threw tent poles here and there trying to set it up whilst simultaneously expressing her anger. "He's an absolute–"

"Temper temper." Jonny smirked. "Look it's only one night. And besides, we could always go in the lake for a quick dip."

"You think this is funny?"

"Of course not." Jonny replied, though he found it difficult to keep a straight face. "Just keep looking forward to tomorrow night because I'm going to take you to a proper Scottish pub, we'll have a proper homemade meal to fill us up and we'll have a nice time inside in the warm. And in the meantime, stop taking your anger out on the tent poles; they didn't do anything to you."

* * *

Later on, Dom and Arthur were collecting firewood with Mo, Adele and Sacha so Guy decided to go to the junior doctors' tent where he knew his daughter would be alone. However he was perturbed to find his daughter in a rather distressed state lying on the ground on her back with her hands pressed firmly down on her abdomen and her feet were brought closer to her body to prop her knees up.

"Zosia?"

"Go away. I'm not in the mood to argue again." She muttered.

"I wasn't going to argue, I just wanted to make sure that you're alright but you're clearly not." He stated. "Let's just forget about what happened earlier yeah? Have you taken some painkillers?"

"What do you think?"

"I've got codeine in my bag for when I get bad migraines or if my back plays up. Do you want me to get some for you?" He offered but his daughter didn't reply verbally, she just reluctantly nodded her head. "Alright, I'll be back in a minute."

"You alright? Is your back playing up again?" Colette asked after Guy had returned to their shared tent to retrieve the painkillers. They knew nothing would ever happen between them, contrary to what Zosia had once accused them of when she was younger, so sharing a tent was easier as one of them could carry the poles whilst the other carried the tent itself.

"No no, it's for Zosia."

"Oh right. Is she okay?"

"She looks like she's in a lot of pain but thankfully we've moved on from earlier." Guy replied.

* * *

"Right, I'll leave these here. Is there anything else I can get you?" Guy asked as he slipped one of the two foil trays of pills into her bag so that she'd have them later if they were needed.

"No… but thanks." She said gratefully.

"I'm afraid you've got this from your mother, she used to have terrible pains too."

"It's not _that_ bad."

"Alright. Well get some rest and I hope you feel better soon okay?"

"Mm."

* * *

"There you go. Two perfectly roasted marshmallows with a crispy outside and gooey inside." Jonny said proudly as he offered Jac a stick with a pink and white mess on the end of a skewer. The fire was roaring and everybody was sat around it on logs that they'd found.

"I'll pass thanks." Jac grimaced at the thought of eating something so sugary and messy.

"I'll have it Jonny Mac." Mo smiled.

"Yeah of course _you_ will." Jonny muttered playfully as he handed the sweet treat over.

"Can I have your torch?" Jac asked quietly.

"Yeah sure." He nodded. "Where're you going?"

"The toilets." She replied briefly as she rose to her feet and began walking back in the direction that they'd come from earlier that day for a 2km walk back to the nearest public toilets.

"Wait, I need to go too. I'll come with you." He said eagerly as he jumped up and ran after her.

* * *

"I know why you've come with me." Jac aired aloud once they were alone.

"What d'ya mean? I just need the toilet after drinking all that water today."

"No. You're coming with me because you don't want me to be by myself around here do you? Because when Guy made everyone collect firewood, I walked further into the forest to find drier wood but you followed me even though you didn't want to walk that far."

"And it's a bad thing to make sure that you're safe?" Jonny protested.

"Why wouldn't I be safe here?"

"It's just that... a girl was raped here in the forest when I was growing up in Scotland." Jonny stated solemnly. "I don't know which forest around Loch Ness it was, but it was on the news and everything and I know it's stupid but I just don't want to let you out of my sight." He admitted.

"You do realise that any man who thinks he can touch me has another thing coming, right?"

"Yeah, I can imagine." Jonny chuckled. "Unless he's a rugged Celtic nurse who has a thing for redheads in which case, he gets free access." He grinned.

* * *

"Right, just while we're all together I want everyone to know that we'll be leaving at 8am tomorrow morning sharpish. By that time you'll need to have your tents down and your bags packed because we'll be covering around 17km which is slightly less than what we walked today." Guy announced as he stood by the fire which had previously been roaring away but had now been left to reduce down to a pile of glowing embers. "Oh, and the camping site for tomorrow night _will_ have toilets and showers onsite." He added.

"Oh thank god." Dom sighed dramatically. "Right, are you coming to bed?" Dom asked his tentmates as he stood up and stretched his lethargic limbs out. "We can finally play snog, marry, avoid since we didn't do it last time."

"Sorry Dom, I just want to get some sleep." Zosia admitted.

"Yeah me too." Arthur nodded.

"Lightweights."

* * *

"You've zipped the sleeping bags together again, haven't you?" Jac could tell from the smug look on her partner's face as they entered the tent with an LED torch.

"Of course I have." Jonny nodded. "I need to keep you warm since Scotland is so stereotypically cold."

"Who's the one being racist now?"

"That's not racist. You can't be racist against yourself." Jonny protested. "Just get into those sleeping bags woman, we've got a lot of walking to do tomorrow and then we're going to a pub – I'm not going to take no for an answer, you are coming to a pub with me."


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you so much for all of the reviews so far :-)**

* * *

Zosia woke the next morning to the chirping of birds and though she could see that it was light outside through the thin tent walls, she checked the time on her phone to see if she could catch another half an hour sleep. Unfortunately, it was a mere hour before they were due to leave and though Arthur and Dom were still fast asleep, she decided to get up and make herself a hot drink to wake her up.

She was feeling much better than the previous day so she grabbed the Trangia, took it outside and began heating up the water. She was just pouring a sachet of hot chocolate into her plastic mug when her father came over.

"I thought you were more of a coffee mind of woman." He commented.

"I used to be when I was staying up late at night studying, but now that it's the end of term, I can't have caffeine or I'll be up all night and can't sleep. And it gives me heartburn sometimes which isn't exactly fun." Zosia admitted. "Do you want some? I can put some more water on." She offered.

"Oh no, thanks. I'm not really a hot chocolate kind of guy." He grinned. "How're you feeling this morning? Alright?"

"Yeah, I had some more codeine in the middle of the night and I'm fine now."

"Just remember that codeine is–"

"Addictive and that I shouldn't take it for more than 2 or 3 days, I know." Zosia interrupted.

"Of course you know, my little F2." Guy beamed proudly.

* * *

"Good morning campers." Jonny grinned as he opened Mo and Adele's tent where both women were crashed out on the ground after a few too many beers around the fire the night before. The two sisters alongside Sacha and Colette had been the last to call it a night but everyone else had been asleep by the time they had done so. But Jonny's voice hadn't woken the Effangas so he cleared his throat and then shouted: "Good morning campers!" He shouted.

"Jonny Mac!" Mo moaned.

"You two do realise that it's about 7:30am so you've only got half an hour to get ready and pack your tent up yes?"

"Adele I thought you said you set an alarm for 7am." Mo protested.

"I did but I must've slept through it." Adele yawned. Jonny chuckled before he left them two to it and he went back over to his tent where he found Jac tying her hair back into a high ponytail as she knelt on the top of their sleeping bag because their tent wasn't tall enough for them to stand up in it.

"Good morning beautiful." He smiled.

"Why're you in such a good mood?" Jac raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe it's just all this Scottish air." He smirked. "Come on, you've got to admit it, it's beautiful here with the lake and everything. And of course, the Loch Ness monster." He joked.

"You don't _actually_ believe in that do you?" Jac retorted.

"Of course I do." He replied at first. "Nah I'm just kiddin'. Do you believe in such things?"

"Of course I don't."

"Oh come on, there's got to be something that you believe in. I know it certainly isn't god, but maybe fairies? Pixies, goblins, mermaids?" He smirked.

"Oh yeah, I really believe in all of them. I go out hunting for them every week." Jac said sarcastically before she began packing her clothes into her bag.

"You should leave your hair natural more often, it looks nice like this." Jonny smiled as he ran his fingers through her long, wavy, auburn ponytail.

"Let's start taking this tent down, shall we?"

"You have _got_ to learn how to take a compliment!" Jonny laughed at her avoidance of acknowledgement of his comment.

* * *

The group of 10 medical professionals had been walking for almost an hour when they reached a café with a veranda overlooking Loch Ness.

"Right, we'll take a break here for about 20 minutes if anyone wants to get some breakfast or a hot drink." Guy announced as he placed his bag down on an outdoor table. "If you want to tell me what you, Dom and Arthur want, tell me and I'll go and order it and I'll pay." He informed his daughter.

"Fine by me." Zosia smirked as she grabbed a table with the junior doctors.

"Did I just hear that right? We're getting free food?" Dom grinned.

"Yep." Zosia nodded as she sat down on one of the basket weave chairs.

"Right I'll have a…"

* * *

"What do you want?" Jonny asked as he shoved his hiking bag under the table after he'd grabbed his wallet. He and Jac had grabbed a table on the other side of the veranda away from the others but Sacha being Sacha, hadn't picked up on the fact that they were after some peace and quiet and he'd pulled a chair up to the table for two and joined them.

"Double expresso please. Oh, and get a couple of bottles of water for later; we haven't got a lot left." Jac replied.

"You not want anything to eat?" Sacha queried.

"We had porridge made on our trangia this morning." Jonny informed the general surgeon. "But that ain't gonna stop me – I'm going to have a full Scottish breakfast." He declared.

"And what's the difference from a full English?" Sacha asked. "I'm assuming it's got black pudding."

"Yep, and us Scots do _not_ go skimpy on the serving sizes."

"Mm, which is why Scotland is in the midst of an obesity epidemic." Jac said with a hint of sarcasm. "Just go and get me my expresso." She ordered.

* * *

"Do you really think that it's wise to be eating that when we've still got to walk several miles today and tomorrow?" Zosia raised an eyebrow as Dom sat at the outdoor table, devouring into a plate of food from bacon and mushrooms to hash browns and fried bread.

"I'll be fine." Dom shrugged. "Besides, I doubt that eating this is worse than _only_ eating an apple." He added.

"Fine." Zosia said as she nicked a mini hash brown bite from his plate and placed it in her mouth. "Happy?" She quipped with a mouthful.

"You never were the girly-girl your mother had imagined you to be." Guy chuckled as he walked past on his way to the table he was sharing with Colette with two steaming cups in his hands. "Oh and your lace is undone." He added.

"Hm? Oh I'll do it in a minute."

* * *

Zosia was walking along the forest path just meters away from Loch Ness as she led the group of ten hospital employees. Only as pointed out before, her lace was undone. As she had done a million times before, she went to put one foot in front of the other but one foot was stood on the lace of the other…

"Ha ha!" Dom shrieked with laughter as she'd fallen to the ground but with such a heavy bag on her back, it wasn't just a small tumble. She would've fallen on her face but the bag had changed her centre of gravity and she'd twisted as she'd fallen so she'd crashed to the hard ground on her side.

"Zosia? Are you alright?" Guy asked concernedly as he dived onto his knees on the floor in front of her.

"I think I've hurt my ankle." Zosia grimaced as she slid the bag off of her back and then sat up to evaluate the injury.

"Right ladies and gentlemen, we're due another break so we'll stop here for fifteen minutes or so." Guy announced to draw the attention away from his fallen daughter. "You think you've broken it?" He asked gently.

"No, I caught it on something." She muttered and she then found that above her trainer on her left foot, was a small gash oozing with blood and sticking out of the dirt path was a sharp rock.

"I'll get my first aid kit out." Colette stated as she also placed her bag on the ground.

"I told you earlier your laces were undone." Guy protested as he gestured the tangled mess around her shoes. "And I told everyone before they came to get a decent pair of _hiking_ boots not trainers." He added sternly.

"You try living on an F2's salary and see if you can waste £50 on a pair of boots that you're only going to use a couple of times." Zosia quipped. "And if you wouldn't mind, I'm in pain here and I don't need to be shouted at."

"Right, there're a couple of antiseptic wipes." Colette said as she handed Zosia the sachets. "We're better off wrapping your ankle in a tight bandage to stop you from moving it too much and then let it air out tonight."

"Really? I never learnt anything about first aid at med school." Zosia said sarcastically but she was forced to stifle a groan as she wiped the first antiseptic wipe across the small laceration.

"Do you want some paracetamol?" Colette asked.

"No, she's taken codeine I think." Guy said questioningly.

"Yeah, I had some when we stopped at that café half an hour ago." She confirmed.

"Right okay. Just get that cleaned up and then I'll put the bandage on for you."


	5. Chapter 5

"You don't have to walk slower to stay with me y'know." Zosia grumbled as she walked along the pathway. The rest of the group were a dozen meters ahead of them because as the day drew on Zosia's pace had gotten slower and slower. Her ankle was throbbing and every step she took caused her pain and all that was keeping her going was the thought of a hot shower at the campsite that night to make her feel clean again.

"It's not a problem; we should reach the campsite any minute now." Guy stated. "And I'm going to buy you a pair of decent hiking boots for the silver and gold expeditions. No arguments, you need them." He said sternly.

"Thanks. And I um... I've been thinking about something, and it's okay if it's gone because I said I didn't want it at the time because I was so mad and I didn't want any money from you… but I was wondering if you still have the money that Mama left me in her will." Zosia admitted.

"Of course I still have it Zosia. It's _your_ money and I knew you'd forgive me eventually. I'll write you a cheque for it when we get back and I'll add a bit more from me."

"No Dad you–"

"Honestly, I have more money than I know what to do with and you need it way more than I ever will so I want you to have it. "

* * *

"Right, the first thing I'm doing after we've got the tent up is going for a shower." Jac declared as she dumped her heavy bag on the green grass of the pitch that the group had been allocated.

"No, you should go now otherwise there'll be a queue because everyone else has got the same idea as you." Jonny stated. "Go on, I'll sort the tent up." He smiled reassuringly. "And don't take it in the wrong way – I'm not saying that you _need_ a shower, I just know how much you want one." He added quickly.

"I know." Jac twisted her lips before she heaved her bag back over one shoulder. "Don't go putting our tent up right next to Mo and Adele's or their incessant gossiping will keep us up all night." She said sternly before she turned on her heel and headed for the toilet and shower block in the middle of the field.

* * *

"Ouch." Dom said sympathetically after Zosia had removed her bandage – in order to air her ankle out – to reveal a gash about two inches long that had gone pale and wrinkly after being enclosed for most of the day. "Maybe she shouldn't come to the pub with us Arthur." He teased. There was a pub, linked with the campsite which – in the morning – provided breakfasts for the visitors as well as evening meals and drinks.

"I think I can manage the 50m walk." Zosia protested.

" _Maybe,_ but she can't have any alcoholic drinks thanks to the timing mother nature and the requirement of painkillers." Dom joked.

"If you say anything like that when we're actually in the pub I'll–"

"You'll what?" Dom scoffed.

"Yeah, it's not as if you could run after him." Arthur smirked.

"No but I could give _you_ a reason to require painkillers." She replied as she glanced downwards.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Oh, I think we know I would."

* * *

Jac returned from the showers wearing a white vest top and black leggings with her freshly cleaned and towel dried hair tied back in a ponytail. But she found Jonny was just lying on top of the sleeping bag tapping away on his phone – she expected him to have sorted something for their evening meal.

"You and I are going to the pub tonight. No buts." Jonny smirked. "Most of the others are already in the pub and it's only a five minute walk away. We can have a nice cooked meal and then have a couple of drinks, yeah?"

"Fine. But only if there will be something on the menu other than black pudding or haggis. And they've got to have drinks other than whisky or gin.""

"Right. One more racist comment from you and I'll–"

"You'll what?" Jac laughed. "Pull your kilt on and start playing the bagpipes?"

"No, I'll make sure that when I get back to Darwin, Mo and Elliot get all the theatre time and you'll be doing office work and ward rounds all day."

"And if you're going to do that, I won't give you your train ticket that I paid for on the way back and you can get back to Holby on a sweaty, smelly coach."

"I don't care, I'd go with Zosia, Dom and Arthur."

"Really? You'd do that just because you can't take a joke about Scottish people?"

"Jac I can take _a_ joke, but two dozen in the space of a couple of days is a bit much!" Jonny protested.

* * *

Zosia, Dom, Arthur Colette and Sacha were in the pub, sat around a table playing cards when Guy – who had had to wait the longest for the showers – joined them with a pint of beer in his hand.

"Does she keep on winning?" Guy asked bluntly.

"How did you know?" Dom protested.

"Because I taught her to play poker when she was ten." Guy said proudly as he took a seat. "Right, what've you conned out of them so far?"

"It's not conning if you're just good at the game." Zosia protested.

"Zosia." He said sternly.

"Dom's owes me two drinks when we get home, Arthur has to buy the shopping next week, Sacha is going to cover my next night shift and Colette is going to buy me dinner tonight." Zosia said smugly.

"Why does he owe you two drinks when you get home? Why not now?" Sacha asked confusedly.

"Because she's taking painkillers because she's on the bl– ouch!" Dom yelped after being kicked underneath the table.

"Right, if I win this game no one owes you anything and if you win, you keep everything _and_ I'll pay for you get a taxi to the train station tomorrow and you won't have to walk. Agreed?" Guy asked to take the attention away from his blushing daughter.

"That's a fair bet." Colette reasoned.

"Um…. Alright. Deal." Zosia nodded.

* * *

"I can't believe it." Guy muttered as he threw his card onto the table.

"Well, at least you know that she takes after her father." Colette quipped.

"I don't understand. Whenever you bluff, you can't hold direct eye contact – you never can – and I thought you were bluffing the whole of the last round." He protested.

"Will you be paying for that taxi by cash or card?" Zosia asked smugly.

"Well I suppose you're better off not walking on that ankle to allow it to heal." Guy sighed. "But this is just a one-off, on the remaining three expeditions you have to walk the entire way." He said sternly.

"If she's going in a taxi, does that mean that she can take some of our bags?" Dom asked optimistically.

"Well it wouldn't be fair because you won't fit 10 hiking bags in a taxi and we can't have some people carrying bags and not others. Maybe it would be better if Zosia just takes all of the tents." Guy suggested.

* * *

"Go on, just try a bit." Jonny pleaded as he and Jac sat in a small booth in the pub, away from the others for a bit of peace and quiet. "Dundee cake is only a fruit cake, it's not got anything strange in it." He added reassuringly as he pushed the plate with a large slice of cake on, towards her.

"I don't want to." Jac protested simply so Jonny leant back against the chair and began devouring the sweet treat. "I still don't get why you're having Dundee cake when we're not in Dundee though."

"Well you eat Yorkshire puddings when you're not in Yorkshire don't you?"

"I suppose." Jac sighed. "How're your legs holding up?"

"They're absolutely killing me. Honestly, they're still throbbing and the blisters on my feet look like they're going to burst any minute."

"Lovely." Jac said sarcastically.

"Do you want to go and hit the sack once I've finished this?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm knackered." She admitted.

"Well it's a good job that I zipped our sleeping bags together earlier then isn't it?" He grinned. "We just have to walk back and we can get our heads down straight away."


	6. Chapter 6

"There're three tickets for the Sleeper train for you, Dom and Arthur." Guy smiled as he handed the small wad of paper to his daughter who had been sitting on a bench with her flatmates as they awaited the next coach back to Holby on a gruelling 9 hour long journey.

"What?" Zosia frowned. "Are you serious?"

"Of course I am. You three don't want to be going back on a cramped coach after walking 49km in the last three days."

"Mr Self, thank you so much–"

"It's not a problem Arthur. But Zosia, you will have to share a cabin with me because Colette's sharing with Sacha now."

"It's not a double bed is it?" Zosia frowned.

"No, goodness no. It's just a room with bunk beds, a sink and a counter." Guy stated. "Now come on or we'll miss the train."

* * *

Despite her protestations at first, Jac had allowed Jonny to sleep on the same bunk with her on the journey home on the condition that he had to be against the wall and she would be in front with easy access to get in and out of the bed. It was rather chilly so, as well as having a thick clothes on, they had the duvet pulled over them up to their chins and Jonny had his arms wrapped comfortably around her frame.

"Since we haven't got work tomorrow when we get back, what do you say to coming around mine and you can stay the night?" He suggested. "I'll even order a takeaway from that really fancy Italian place you like."

"Depends if you're up for watching a video on a new technique for CABGs that was sent to me from America by Professor Izzard." Jac replied sleepily.

"I'm sure I can manage." Jonny mused. "Night." He kissed one of her incredible cheekbones before he settled down with the beautiful consultant in his arms on the train back to Holby City.

* * *

"You used to spend hours staring at that when Mama got cancer the first time round." Guy spoke as he entered the room in loose trousers and an old shirt to find that his daughter was holding his plain gold wedding band that he wore on a gold chain around his neck but had been taken off as he didn't like to sleep in it.

"I remember." Zosia nodded as she sat on the edge of the bottom bed. She would be sleeping on the upper bunk but it was more convenient to remain on the lower one for now. "I'd hold it when we were with her in the chemo suites and I'd keep going through the story of how you two first met to take my mind off of things. You met her at a conference in Kraków and you didn't speak to her until you and Jesse met her in a club one night. The first thing you ever said to her was 'Zatańczymy?'."

"I asked her to dance with me." Guy nodded. "And that is what your mother had engraved on the inside of my ring, in Polish of course." He added. "And from there, we fell in love and then had you." He smiled as he sat down on the bed next to her.

"There're horrible memories of running this through my fingers." Zosia stated as she frequently smoothed her fingers over the priceless object. "Mama being sick, losing her hair, sleeping all day… and yet I still like it because I don't want to let her go." She admitted.

"You can keep it if you want."

"Wh- your wedding ring? Dad I can't–"

"Zosia, I'll never forget your mother. Not in a million years. But it's becoming a bit of a nuisance; I have to take it off for theatre and leave it in my office, and I know that Mama wouldn't want me to wear it every day just for the sake of it – heck when we worked together at Northchurch we barely ever wore our rings because we were in and out of theatre all day." Guy explained. "However, I do know that it means an awful lot to you so if you want it, you can have it. As long as you take care of it."

"Thank you." She whispered as she wrapped her arms around his torso and gave him a tight hug.

* * *

After the overnight journey, the ten hospital employees arrived at Holby train station and Guy had gathered them quickly for one last briefing.

"Now, I suppose before you all go I should tell you what I have planned for the final silver expedition." Guy announced. "It won't be easy, it'll be a challenge."

"Please tell me it's not up in Scotland again." Zosia moaned.

"Not in Scotland, no. I thought it'd be nice to go back to the New Forest actually." Guy stated. "And I'm sorry Dom but I booked this months ago and I didn't know then – for the second day we will be travelling on horseback."

"I'll be sneezing like a banshee." Dom grumbled.

"Like a _what_?" Sacha frowned.

"Anyways, I shall see you all back at work on Wednesday. Until then, you all need to get some rest and eat a decent meal."

* * *

The last few days had been very gruelling so by early evening, Jac and Jonny had eaten an Italian takeaway and were cuddled up on the sofa watching the medical video that she had been sent, on the smart TV.

"At least the Scottish quips have stopped."

"Oh I can continue if it'll remind you of home." Jac remarked.

"No no, I think I'm alright thanks." Jonny smirked. He then watched as Jac changed position on the sofa to get more comfortable but she grimaced as her aching muscles had been under a lot of strain carrying her heavy bag all weekend. "Why don't I run you a nice hot bath and get this video up on the iPad so you can watch it while you're in there?" He suggested.

"No you never run the water hot enough." She sighed.

"What do you actually do? Just run the entire bath using the hot tap?" He protested.

"Pretty much."

"Why do you like baths that're so hot? You sit in water at temperatures that're more suited to making cups of tea." He joked.

"Because they water gets cold pretty quickly – the hotter they are at the beginning, the longer you can stay in there." Jac argued and they both sat in silence as they watched an interesting part of the operation before Jac spoke up. "You know for the silver expedition we're going to be riding horses?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know how to ride a horse?" She asked curiously.

"Um… I haven't ridden a horse properly before but I doubt it'll be too hard. Why?" He asked. "You don't know how to ride them either do you?" He concluded.

"Yes I've had several ponies to myself because I've come from such a privileged background." Jac replied sarcastically.

"I'm sure it'll be fine." He said reassuringly. "Besides, I bet everyone else will be in the same boat as us – I know Mo and Adele haven't ridden before and I doubt the others have." Jonny stated. But he couldn't have been more wrong…

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Just to let you all know, I'm struggling to write the final silver and the gold expeditions but I've got a really big story planned for casualty so after the gold ones I'm going to take a break from writing for Holby for a while and focus on that . This casualty one is going to be over a hundred chapters long so it may no be until after summer that I come back to the Holby fandom but I'm not going to rush because nowadays unfortunately the Holby fandom has gotten pretty quiet :(**

 **I'll try to have the final silver up soon and I'm aiming to have all three of the remainder of this series up before I go on holiday on 5th July :)**


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